It also depends a lot on the following factors:
- Do you work full or part time; year-round or seasonally?
- Do you specialize or are you a generalist?
- Do you charge what you're worth?
- Do you follow the 80/20 rule and weed out less profitable clients?
- Do you stay on the cutting-edge of knowledge?
- Do you use the value-based pricing model?
If you work all year round, specialize in a good niche, charge what you're worth, fire the least profitable 20% of your clients each year, and stay on the cutting edge of knowledge in your niche, you can make a lot of money.
At a seminar I met a return preparer who had a full time job in software development. But during tax season, she worked nights and weekends out of a spare bedroom in her house doing simple tax returns for people. She pulled in an extra $30,000 each year by just working nights and weekends for a few months.
I recently met an Enrolled Agent who prepares 600 mostly simple returns each year and takes in over $65,000 in three months. Of course it takes working 14 hour days, six days per week during the season to pull that off.
A competent tax preparer and adviser who can bill 15 hours per week for 48 weeks per year at a very modest $175 per hour will have gross billings of $126,000 per year. That's very doable for a sole practitioner with an in-demand specialization. Especially with the opportunity of serving clients all over the country via the internet like Gary Carter does.
